Dice have been known and used for thousands of years. In some form or another, dice have appeared in many different cultures throughout history. For example, dice are depicted on some ancient Egyptian monuments, and they were used for playing games and gambling throughout ancient Greece and Rome.
In contemporary times, dice are available in variety of different shapes and sizes. The number of sides (facets or faces) on a die can range from just a few to dozens, and the size of a die can vary widely, from the very minute to the very large. A fairly standard size for a conventional six-sided die is about 16 millimeters along an edge. Dice are known to have numbers, letters, dots, or other symbols printed, drilled or embossed on their sides.
Conventional modern gaming dice are cubes having dots on their sides representing the numbers one through six. The dots are placed on respective die faces so that the sum of the dots on opposite sides is always seven. Thus, the numbers one and six appear on opposite sides of the cube, while two is opposite five and three is opposite four.
With the advent of electronics, various types of “electronic dice” have been developed to increase the entertainment value and interest in using dice.
For example, the ELECTRO™ DICE, available from Palco Marketing, Inc. of Plymouth, Minn. (www.palcomarketing.com/dice.htm or www.electrodice.com), feature a pair of spherically-shaped dice, each having an exposed square cavity formed opposite a flat side on the sphere. Within the square cavity are seven light-emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged to represent the dots on the face of a conventional die. Batteries, a movement sensor, a piezoelectric noisemaker, and an electronic circuit for randomly generating numbers are contained within the spherical body. When the ELECTRO™ DICE are tossed, they land upright on their flat sides and randomly display numbers using the LEDs, while making sounds. Although the ELECTRO™ DICE provide an innovative and entertaining approach to electronic dice, they forego the conventional dice-action aspect of being rolled to randomly select a facet, and instead rely on electronics to randomly generate numbers.
Japanese Patent No. JP2000084241 to Kimura Masaki discloses a game machine having a dice-like look and feel. The cubic housing of the game machine is about six centimeters on a side and contains an IC circuit (sic) programmed with a game and power source. The dots of the die are lighted push buttons for operating the game. A liquid crystal display (LCD) and two switches—a game selection switch and an on-off switch—are located on one exterior side of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,903 discloses a six-sided toy die that includes six different playing functions, one associated with each side. The playing functions are essentially different games for children. When the toy die is rolled, the game on the upward side can be played. The games include a letter matching game, a phone dialing game, and so forth. Internally, the die includes a controller and sound generator for producing music, voice and noises. The die is also includes an internal gravity switch, as well as LEDs associated with push buttons located on the exterior of the die. Although the toy die of the '903 patent has many appealing features, it is clearly not intended to be used for the random selection of a number or outcome, like a conventional die.
PCT Patent Application Nos. WO 00/52672 and WO 99/11344, and related U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,145 disclose a six-sided electronic die having a conventional appearance, but containing within itself a programmable micro-controller circuit and a radio frequency (RF) transceiver for transmitting data identifying which face is lying down on a surface. At least one tilt sensor is included in the die for indicating which face is down. The die does not include lights or any means for generating sounds or visual displays.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,594 discloses a device for automatically discriminating the spot pattern of an upward face of a six-sided die. The die includes an embedded transmitter and mercury switches for transmitting positional information. The die does not include any means for generating sounds or visual displays.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,931 discloses an electronic die having a cube-shaped, hollow housing that contains batteries and an electronic circuit for randomly generating two numbers from one to six inclusive. The top side of the housing includes two identical rectangular display sections with each section having seven light emitting elements mounted therein. The electronic circuit is actuated by manually shaking the die. When the shaking stops, the two random numbers that are finally selected are illuminated in the display sections. The electronic die of the '931 patent is not intended to be tossed or thrown like a conventional die, and instead, its electronics are used to randomly determine an outcome.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,840 discloses a cubic electronic die having seven-segment numeric displays on each of its six facets. Within the hollow cube are a battery, a motion sensing switch and an electronic circuit for generating random numbers. While the die is moving, the circuit generates a series of random numbers on the displays. Once the motion stops, the random number occurring last is displayed on all six facets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,189 discloses a device for simulating the roll of a die. The device includes an electronic circuit housed within an elongated housing. The circuitry includes logic that simulates the random nature of rolling conventional dice. A multi-position switch is provided so that the logic circuitry can selectively simulate dice behavior characteristic of dice having different numbers of side, such as four-sided, eight-sided, twelve-sided, twenty-sided, or one-hundred-sided dice.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,304 discloses illuminated dice in combination with a storage housing for the dice. The dice are provided with light-emitting numeric displays on their surfaces, together with a battery, gravity-responsive switch and master switch contained within each die. The gravity-responsive switch causes the battery to be coupled to the upward facing side of the die, thereby illuminating only the upwardly facing numeric display. The separate housing includes small projections for reception in small holes formed on one face of each die to open the master switch in each die so that there will not be drainage on the batteries when the dice are stored.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,881 discloses a pair of multifaceted dice having illuminatable numeric displays. Each of the facets bear an illuminatable numeric display and each side supports an internal switch that operates to illuminate only the upward facing side of the dice after having been rolled and coming to rest.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,988 discloses an electronic dice game in which an electronic circuit and battery are supported within a rectangular housing having two sets of seven illuminatable display elements on single face to represent the spots of a conventional pair of dice. Control switches and a plug-in socket are externally located on another housing face. The electronic circuit includes a timer that simulates the random characteristic of rolling of conventional dice. In its intended use, the electronic dice of the '988 patent simulate the dice-playing activity by randomly generating combinations of illuminated spot elements on the single facet. An audible oscillator simulates the sound of rolling dice. Although the electronic dice game of the '988 patent may have appeal, it is not designed or intended to be tossed or thrown like conventional dice.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,715,624 and 3,459,427 disclose early efforts to combine electronic circuitry with playing dice, and each includes a random generator which randomly illuminates the spot patterns associated with conventional dice in a manner intended to simulate the action of rolling dice.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,408 discloses a hollow die having lighted faces of different colors. Located within the die is a composite mercury switch that operates to light only the upward facing side of the die. Nowadays, the known hazards of mercury make the die disclosed in the '408 patent undesirable for toys and novelty items.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,892 discloses a game apparatus including a cube with conventional dice dot patterns for the numbers two through six on its side and upper facets. The apparatus sequentially illuminates each of the dot patterns on the facets in a rapid, serial manner using a rotatable contact switch driven by an electric motor. A player attempts to activate a manual breaking device that stops the movement of the contact switch. The object is to apply the breaking device with sufficient skill to select the desired dot pattern.
Although the foregoing electronic dice may provide a certain degree of entertainment value, there is a need for an improved electronic die that further enhances the excitement and appeal of using dice.